Mom's Morning Out set for Feb. 6

Event kicks off Help Me Grow intervention program

By KELLEY MOHR
Staff WriterPublished: January 27, 2013 4:00AM

MILLERSBURG -- Wish there was an easy way to tell if a child is ready for kindergarten?

Now, there is.

In order to prepare children for school, the Holmes County General Health District and East Holmes Local Schools are teaming up to improve the well-being of children through Help Me Grow, an early intervention program and a home visiting program to help families coordinate and maximize opportunities for children who have delays, medical diagnosis or have suspected delays.

"Parents with developmental questions or concerns did not know where to turn for help, but we knew that families in our area have used the services of Help Me Grow with success," said Kathy Shoup, parent coordinator for East Holmes Local Schools. "Since early intervention is the key to school success for children with developmental concerns, this is a natural partnership."

The collaboration with the Holmes County Help Me Grow Program -- which is made up of a team of specialists -- comes in response to concerns of parents in the school district who felt their children were not meeting developmental milestones upon entry into kindergarten.

The program offers parents another resource to assist with developmental questions and needs.

To kick off this collaboration, Mom's Morning Out will be held Feb. 6 from 9-10 a.m. at Charm School.

The event will provide an introduction to the program and a time for representatives from Help Me Grow to answer questions and share developmental information for parents.

"We'll discuss with them the program and what we do," said Help Me Grow Director Becky Longworth-Smith. "What we want is for the community to be more aware of our services, so we can get children up-to-date so they are ready for school and kindergarten, and school systems can use their money for other things."

Through the partnership, East Holmes Schools and Help Me Grow plan to reach out to and encourage parents with children under the age of three to have their children expertly screened.

The screening will make sure the children are on the right track, at the right time for developing language, sight, hearing and thinking abilities and achieving physical growth and muscle control for life, learning and play, explained Smith.

The process is simple: If a child is referred to the program -- from a parent, a doctor, a hospital or anyone else in the community -- a Help Me Grow representative calls the parents with a request to come into the home to offer the program's services -- speech, occupational therapy, physical therapy or early intervention.

"We go to them," explained Smith. "We work with the child in the home on a one-to-one basis for as long as the family wants it and as long as the child needs services."

The family always has the opportunity to opt out of the program, she added. "It's their program. They make the decision, we don't."

Using Help Me Grow services, students could be on-target upon entry to kindergarten.

"It's more important these days than it was when I went to kindergarten because there are more academic skills that children need to learn -- it's not just playing, it's reading, writing and other academic skills," said Smith. "If a child goes to kindergarten with a delay -- whether it's a speech delay, gross motor delay, fine motor delay -- then the child is already behind. If they are behind to begin with, they might be behind all the way through."

The earlier developmental delays are addressed, the more likely the issues can be overcome, added Smith, reminding parents "the future belongs to your children. Making sure they get any help they need to grow strong, and smart, and capable is the best thing we can do for them, for our community and for our schools.

For more information, contact Sue Gonter Dray at 330-674-0177. For businesses or individuals who wish to support the program, contact Holmes County Health Commissioner Dr. D.J. McFadden at 330-674-5035.

Reporter Kelley Mohr can be reached at 330-674-5676 or kmohr@the-daily-record.com.